Nationalism needs a cause

By James Wanjik

 

 

WHEN I wrote the poem; “Road to dependence on independence” as my tribute to our 34 years of nationhood I was moved by very young children of a Catholic Mission- run community school in Nuku, Sandaun Province.

 

 I was listening to a launch of a cooperative Society there on Radio Maria.

 

Upon hearing young children sing very patriotically I recalled a time 34 years ago at Babmu Community School in Wosera where we were taught to sing the national anthem.

 

We were taught every afternoon each school day.

 

We were rolling on till the time Wosera stood with other tribes to lower Australian flag and to raise our very own.

 

We gathered in numbers at Wosera Patrol Post.

 

 It was a time we had been placing on our minds and hearts.

 

It was 16 September 1975.

 

Our nation was born.

 

We were politically free.

 

We shared the joy of liberty.

 

Little did we know that we were on the road to economic dependence.

 

Big Rio Tinto had caught Waigani powerless.

 

It made sure the Panguna mine was the big project that would support our independence.

 

 Instead of helping Rio Tinto manipulated and controlled our leaders and people of Panguna.

 

We saw worst crisis that lasted 10 years.

 

Leaders of today are without vision.

 

Without a vision people cannot set goals.

 

Without goals people are vulnerable to manipulation and control.

 

Our people need a cause for nationalism.

 

Our leaders are helpless and hopeless to provide such a cause.

 

It means we the people must take stock of where we have come from, where we are, and where we had intended to be today.

 

If we truly did such stock take we do have unfulfilled vision. It is the first national goal.

 

Our human development index is still poor.

 

We have not matched economic development underpinned by mines with human development.

 

This means we need to review our development policies and strategies.

 

We also need to review our business models.

 

Since land is a way of life for majority Papua New Guineans development plans and business models must recognise, encourage and support people and land symbiosis.

 

Slowly and surely this new way of development thinking is taking root.

 

We will surely put PNG on a path to liberty.

 

Liberty from manipulation and control by leaders, bureaucrats and big businesses.

 

 29 September 2009